Buying a camera in Hong Kong – Don’t! (Part 2)

July 21, 2011/

On Tuesday I compared the prices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The conclusion was that even though there are rumors that cameras are cheaper in Hong Kong, there’s no need to rush there to shop. In the comments Mike reminded us that there are cheap stores in Guangzhou too, but you just have to know what you’re buying and know about the different guarantees.

Today I’m going to tell you the first story of the camera shop that tried to trick me into buying something I didn’t want.

Scam number 1

It happened on the Peking road and you can see the shop in the picture above (from Google Maps). This is how it happened:

Me: I’m interested in buying a DSLR camera. Could you show me something cheap and good for beginners?

Salesman: Sure. Here’s the Canon Rebel XS (1000d).

Me: How much is it?

Salesman: That’s 3800HKD.

Me: In the other shop they said it’s about 3000HKD.

Salesman: Come sit here and take a look at the camera. I can give you a good deal.

Sitting with my Finnish friend in front of the salesman and trying the camera. Salesman doing some small talk.

Me in Finnish to my friend: I’m sure soon he’s saying how it’s a “special price for you my friend!”

Me in English to the salesman: I like it but it’s little bit over my budget.

Salesman: Don’t worry. I can give a special price for you my friend. And later on when you buy a new camera or your friend wants one, you can come back here.

Me: Okey, that’s good.

Salesman: Playing with his calculator. What about 3500HKD? It’s a very good price for a camera like this.

We continue waiting for the camera I bought. Me and my friend already understood that he want’s us to buy the Fujifilm camera that’s only slightly more expensive than the Canon, but perhaps in reality it’s not as good as the Canon. Salesman is trying all the tricks he knows to sell us something more expensive.

Salesman: You know, I’m already working over time and I have to go now. Here is my manager and he knows you are waiting for the camera and he will close the deal with you.

Salesman leaves and we still continue waiting for the camera.

Manager: I just got a call from the storage and the Canon Rebel XS is only in Japanese. Is this okey for you?

Me: What? Do I look like I understand Japanese?

Manager: It’s an older model so it’s only in Japanese. But we can give you the English manual.

Me: Are you kidding me?!

Manager: If you don’t want it you can buy something else or get your money back.

Me: You bet I’m getting my money back! Is this really the way you do business?!

I left the store with my money and kept cursing in Finnish all the way to the street.

What just happened

The salesmen in Hong Kong are clever. They know what to say to make you feel good and “become friends”. They know how to change the settings in the cameras in order to make you buy a more expensive camera. But in reality the more expensive one might not be better one.

At this point I thought that they really didn’t know that they don’t have the Canon in storage and had to come up with something so I would choose an other camera. In Guangzhou it’s normal that you pay first and then you get the product from the storage or warehouse. I thought that’s just normal.

I also thought that this particular store was just an isolated incident. I didn’t know that this is the way most of the small and cheap Camera stores in Hong Kong work.

Later this week I’ll tell you how naive I was and how I got fooled the second time. It’s even better!

That would have been the smart thing to do. But in Guangzhou I’m used to give the money first and only then get the product. That’s why I thought it’s ok, but that seems not to be the case in Hong Kong.

In Guangzhou especially at the wholesale markets it’s common to give the money first and then they get you the product from the storage. They don’t have all the items at the shop, only some models so you can see what they have.

I have to say that I was lucky to get my money back. Perhaps it would be too big of a risk for the shop if police would be called to check the situation? Or can police be trusted in Hong Kong?

tom

yes i had a similar experience in hong kong. the salesperson used the “bait and switch” on me too. what i learned is that if the price is too low to be reasonable, then it’s probably a scam. it’s safer to buy it at a regular store

You are right Tom, it’s safer to buy at regular store you can trust. Before buying the camera I had heard so many people saying that cameras are cheap in Hong Kong so I just thought “wow, they really are cheap!”. In Guangzhou I would have been smarter.

Justin

Justin, I’m not sure if it would be a moral thing to do to teach you all how to swear in Finnish! This reminds me how my Chinese boyfriend learned to swear in Finnish. I was at the hospital at that time and sure sweared a lot because it was the worst thing that have happened to me. I really didn’t have to teach him! Now I regret it :)

Lory, you can find my email from the About page. Nice to hear that you enjoy the beach and the sea! I do think that if you want to share those feeling and photos, you should open your own blog! Would that be a good idea?

OMG, you went to Peking Road in Tsimshatsui, of all places. Oh dear. Take it from a Hongkonger like me, you should have gone the bigger shopping malls and buy your camera from Fortress or Broadway. They couldn’t be bothered to cheat you.

Don’t get me wrong: you have my sympathy. I’d just like to make one observation though (not actually about you as such, but taking your story here as a springboard): a lot of China-resident expats such as yourself are apt to take a blanket ‘Chinese’ view when they come to Hong Kong. It’s understandable and forgivable, since Hongkongers and Chinese are mostly alike (and even Hongkongers take this view). But Hong Kong (and Hongkongers) are nothing like the Chinese you know. HKers are not more or less crafty than mainlanders – they’re just different and ne’er the twain shall they meet. I personally have seen countless episodes of what you went through. But, honestly speaking, I don’t want to flog a dead horse, other than to say, Hong Kong is very, very good at spotting mainland Chinese ways in others (expats included) and seize the day, though often they don’t set out to do it originally.

BTW, I just like to state that the ‘blanket view’ position above isn’t particularly popular with expats living in the PRC. But it IS something I notice most of the time and has good predictive value in my experience. Mileage may vary for others.

Amy

Hello Finnish girl.Hope you get your camera after these “interesting” experience.If you buy a camera in Beijing,the salesman might use the same trick,or even worse.Sometimes the salesman will tell you that cameras in the shop are expensive because of the high rent.They give you a name card said they have cheaper ones in other shop which has less good location.If you believe their words,you might buy a fake one with no cheap price.

Hi Amy. Yes, I bought the camera from Gome in the end. First I went there, choose the model and the color, paid and got my receipt. The next they I went back (they didn’t have it in the store), got my camera, tried it and they put the batter and memory card in. Even attached the strap!

Good to know how it’s in Beijing! I think that because there are more tourists and foreigners there so they have more scams too. Like the tea scam.

Simo

Haha, I had a experience just like this, except I was the accompanying friend and not the buyer and the product was a HTC phone. we ended up not buying and just walked out.

I think only electronics worthwhile to purchase from hongkong are ones that are not available in the mainland, such as the amazon kindle and some blackberry models.

clothing brands which are expensive back home and imported in mainland are usually much cheaper in hong kong. I think hong kong is really good if you want to buy real brand clothing, and I don’t mean the high end brands but just typical ones.

When mainland chinese say hong kong is good for shopping they usually mean for luxury items & cosmetics, which both can have added 30% import tax on the price here in mainland.

I purchased my previous camera (just a normal pocket one) in Beijing’s Zhongguancun which is also notorious for fakes. I paid about 40 % less than I would pay in Finland for the same camera, and I got a bag for it and and extra battery (ok, the extra battery is fake but it still works, it just has a shorter life lol). but the experience of purchasing in zhongguancun was quite nice, they offered tee while the sales person showed you all the functions of the camera without trying to up-sell another camera. you are not expected to give any money until your camera is in front of you in a box, then you pay and you can break the seal on the box and try it before you leave.

Marco

Hi everyone. I’m a Brazilian guy who have been several times to HK and other cities in PRC (Shezen, Ghanzou, Shanghai, Harbin, Beijin, etc.). Its a cultural thing in these places. I also live in a tourist city in Brazil and unfortunantelly several small shops try to use some scams. To be on the safer side you shoud buy from regular main shops. Of corse small shops can be a good deal. I almost never bought from big stores in HK. I rather go to small ones and never got cheated because I do my homework and just buy what I do want to buy. I double check boxes, papers, overall apearance. I also know beforehand the average street prices. For example. Next time I come to HK, next September I plan to buy a Canon 7d + a first class zoom lenses. I know how much BH Photo charge for them in NYC, plus I do my research on intenet stores. I intend to buy them for some 20% to 5% less than in Amazon or BH Photo. If a get that price at a main store I don’t close the deal immediatelly. I try and browse at small shops with good items displayed. Then start deal with salesperson. I present myself as one who is not aware of the equipment and every single B.S.($#%##) he/she says I reply and give a byte of my knowledge. I set up a price target and try to lower it. Bargainig is a chinese art. I’m also aware that being a western I’ll get a higher price. Therefore if possible I ask some chinese or Hongkonger friend to do the business for me and I just stay around as a customer not involved in the deal.
I speak very litle mandarim (not cantonese) and sometimes it helps.
Said so I can say that fortunantelly I never got busted in my shopping ventures in HK. People are very kind and honest. You can ask someone to help you out counting money on the streets and nobody will robb you. You can leave your goods at table and come back and you’ll find them safe (unless, maybe its a last generation cell phone). You can carry and walk on streets all spruced up covered in gold and you still are safe even late at night. Its unfortunantelly very different from Brazil.
I love HK and willing to get back again soon.
Now I would like to know if someone could suggest a good and honest place to buy a Canon 7d + good lenses in HK for a good price or tell the current street price of it.
Tks a lot.
Marco

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Keith

No offence, but this might actually only affect foreigners, in every countries.
To be honest, I buy lots of electronic stuff, but they didn’t tend to scam me for a worse product. Maybe the sales wanted to gain more commission, and just try to scam by “Friendly” chats.
I feel bad about your experience, since I am from Hong Kong. And at the same time I became more alert after reading your post.
Thank you anyways. Good day.

It might, but after my experience in Hong Kong as a foreigner, I just can’t recommend buying cameras from these stores. That’s also something that haven’t happened to me in Guangzhou when buying electronics.

Sellers giving false information about the existence of the camera isn’t a scam? Changing camera’s white balance setting so it seems to be worse than it actually is in order to sell a cheaper camera for higher price, this isn’t a scam either?

JR

john james

it’s hard if you guys are tourists….First thing is don’t buy anything in Tsim Sha Tsui especially in that touristy area of Nathan road. Just go to a Broadway or Fortress store. You can always go to Wing Shing in Mong Kok. I see so many foreigners asking for “best price” when i walk around tsim sha tsui and i just shake my head.

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Bogie

Just AVOID setting foot in any electronic shop at Nathan Road, ESPECIALLY the one called PERFECT DIGITAL – it’s a tourist trap! That business is in existence for only one reason – TO RIP PEOPLE OFF. So avoid that camera shop and ALL NEARBY CAMERA SHOPS along Nathan Road for that matter, for your sake.

Kitcrsn

Best to compare U.S. prices for that special camera before you shop in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a shoppers paradise, so, if you have the time, do your homework and compare prices. First time I visited Hong Kong was while on a 5 day R&R from Vietnam in October 1968. Picked up a genuine Rolex GMT Master from a certified Rolex dealer with all the paperwork for under $300.00 U.S. Today the same watch in the U.S. sells for $3,000, perhaps even higher.

Kitcrsn

Thanks for posting this. Scamming is a part of life in Asian shopping cities such as Bangkok, Hong Kong. Dealers prey on tourists like wolves. Do a little homework before you go and you’ll get a great deal for that special something of interest.

pogi

Ive been here before and its true! people in that store along with others are assholes! i asked for a series of lenses zigma, and they want me to pay first before they will get the lense, and when i pay, i wait 15 mins just to say they have better lenses..because they have no stock..thats the momment i get pissed off.. what i did is i stand up and i told them that Im about to kick their ass if they wont give the things that i asked, im 6 footer with bad behaviour on this..so theyre fuckin scared!! i almost hit the guy on his head..so they immideatly returned my money..its quite a scene tobe honest.. but they deserved it. im pissed of but when i saw their scared faces as i act like im gonna hammer them off.. thats hilarious..haha